Texts:

Bertrand Russell. The Problems of Philosophy (handout and on line as html, pdf for viewing, and pdf for printing).

Ludwig Wittgenstein. Selections from the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (handout of selections—also on line as pdf for viewing, and pdf for printing).

Albert Blumberg and Herbert Feigl. “Logical Positivism,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 28 (1931), pp. 281-296. [On JSTOR.]

Ludwig Wittgenstein. Philosophical Investigations (Blackwell, 2001).

Wilfrid Sellars. “Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind.” Reprinted as an appendix to Willem Devries and Timm Triplett, Knowledge, Mind, and the Given (Hackett, 2000).

Willard van Orman Quine. “Two Dogmas of Empiricism.” The Philosophical Review, vol. 60 (1950), pp. 20-43. [On JSTOR.]

      . “Notes on Existence and Necessity.” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 40 (1943), pp. 113-127. [On JSTOR.]

Saul Kripke. Naming and Necessity (Harvard, 1980).

Requirements: (1) Four papers (of about 5 pp.), one each on Russell, Wittgenstein, Sellars, and Kripke; I will suggest topics but you will have substantial freedom of choice. (2) Regular, prepared, and active participation in class discussion (perhaps including occasional brief writing assignments or assigned tasks in discussion). Your final grade will be based on these in the following way: 20% each for the papers and 20% for class participation.